Anne Boonchuy
Anne Boonchuy is the main protagonist of the 2019 television series, Amphibia. She is a 13-year-old Thai-American girl who originally resided on Earth until a magical box transported her to Amphibia, a world inhabited by anthropomorphic frogs and large bugs and other strange animals. Background Anne comes from a Thai-American family. She was also supposedly friends with two girls named Sasha and Marcy. However, in "Best Fronds" it is strongly implied that they were actually taking advantage of her, as she claims that one must do anything a friend wants oneself to do to keep the friendship alive, should one want to do it or not. One day, her "friends" forced her to steal a mysterious box from a store. Once she opened it, Anne (along with, unbeknownst to her, Sasha) was transported to Amphibia, a world with anthropomorphic frogs and dangerous creatures. For some time, she was forced to live in a cave, which was very unpleasant for her, especially at night (as giant creatures tried to eat her). Personality Anne is described to be fearless and self-centered. She also has a rebellious side, as shown in the second segment of the first episode where she and Sprig defied Hop Pop's orders of staying put and instead of going to the lake to swim. In spite of this, Anne has deep value for her friends, feeling lost if she doesn't have a friend, and being willing to do anything to protect both her friends and her friendships with them. However, this latter trait is a double-edged sword, as it causes her to always save her friends in Amphibia even if she knows she may die while doing it, but also caused her to be manipulated by her "friends" in Earth to get what they wanted. In spite of her recklesness, Anne can often deliver some good advise. This was seen in both "Grubhog Day", where she told Sprig to tell Hop Pop that he dosen't want to take care of the grubhog, and "Cursed!", where she told Sprig to just break up his engagement with Maddie due to his fear of her. However, Anne would show a dislike to pineapples (especially as a pizza topping) and will threaten anyone mentioning it. Role in the series As revealed in flashback in "Reunion", Anne started off as a slightly conceited girl who nevertheless embraced her ethnic roots. She was best friends with a girl named Sasha who tended to push her around through peer pressure. At her behest, she abandoned her own birthday party set up by her family to go and steal a music box at a thrift store with her friends. The box transported her to Amphibia where she spent the first couple of weeks fending for herself in the wild. Upon meeting the native Amphibians, Anne was taken aback by their way of living. It is only when she started living with the Plantars that she began to open up and learn more about herself. Anne realized that much of what she was brought up on made her somewhat materialistic and she began to accept simpler ways of living (though she still relies on her cell phone and has apparently gotten others addicted to its functions). There are even parts of herself that she had suppressed that, thanks to Sprig and the rest of the Plantars, she has opened up on such as cooking as seen in "Lily Pad Thai". Her relationship with Sasha also begins to unravel as it becomes apparent that much of her decisions were more the result of being pressured and pushed around by her and Marcy. Her perception of friendship is depicted in "Best Fronds" when she states, "If a friend likes a pencil case, you get it for them. If your friend likes your new shoes, you give them to her. And if your friend wants you to steal a crazy music box from a thrift store, even if you really don't want to, you do it, okay?" Through her constant interaction with Sprig, a somewhat simple minded child, Anne is able to look at friendship in a whole new way. She begins to desire a more compassionate relationship with those close to her. By the end of "Reunion", she finally sees through Sasha's manipulative tactics thanks to Sprig who sees Anne for who she is: a kind and considerate person who is willing to protect her friends. Much of Anne's family life at home remains a mystery, but it is implied that she maintains a pretty healthy relationship with her parents despite the fact that she clearly is rebellious even at home. Her family apparently runs a restaurant and therefore knows the ins and outs of running one, ("The font on these menus is way too small; Rookie mistake."). Relationships Sprig Plantar Anne and Sprig have a very strong friendship. While she found him slightly gross and detestable at first meeting, they were able to quickly bond with one another due to their similar personalities. They continuously refer to themselves as "Spranne" and even have a catchphrase: "Spranne against the world!" Anne acts as the straight man to Sprig's foil and is always trying to lead him in the right direction, even if that direction is unintentionally off a cliff. She acts like an older sister to him and has a genuine care about him that borders on protective. Anne is aware that Sprig is the first person to stand up for her as he sees her for the kind and generous person that she is. As shown in "Bizarre Bazaar", they have zero romantic attraction with one another for obvious reasons though Anne did seem quite perturbed that Sprig stated that it was because she was "too old" for him. She became very supportive of him courting Ivy Sundew as she felt that the two were meant to be together. Hop Pop Plantar Anne initially had a hard time getting along with Hop Pop due to her more rebellious attitude and his wizened by the book experience. It was not until the events of "Stakeout" that Anne began to see Hop Pop in a new light. He told her that she reminded him of himself when he was younger which made the two grow close. Anne in some ways sees Hop Pop as a surrogate grandfather figure for her and, despite disobeying him, does come around to looking for his wisdom to help her out. Anne is also prone to making fun of Hop Pop due to his dated beliefs, but also tries to teach modern ideas and trends. Polly Plantar Anne seemed slightly perturbed by Polly when she first met her. By the events of "Girl Time", Anne desired to become closer to her while trying to enforce what she viewed as girlish onto Polly. By the end of the episode, she began to accept her more masculine and crass behavior. Anne is usually seen holding Polly, showing that she trusts her enough and certain episodes have shown that the two share a lot in common in terms of being adventurous. One-Eyed Wally Anne kept her distance from One-Eyed Wally almost by instinct. She found him annoying and unpleasant to be around. However in "Wally and Anne", Anne began to see that he was a person deep inside with feelings and soon begin to find his happy-go-lucky attitude inspiring as it meant not caring about what others think. Maddie Flour While only having limited interaction through Sprig, Anne was put off by Maddie's behavior just like everyone else. She helped Sprig break up with her and showed no remorse for her actions. After getting cursed and help from Maddie, she became more comfortable around her. Wartwood Citizens One of the major arcs in the series is Anne's relationship with the town of Wartwood. From the very first episode everyone was either afraid of or despised her for being different. This did not stop her from trying to reach out or show friendliness towards everyone. By "Girl Time", everyone was at least comfortable with her presence to the point that she was treated to their commodities. In "Toad Tax", Anne was feeling down as everyone walked all over her. This did not stop her from defending them from the Toads who were ransacking their town when their taxes were not paid. Since then, everyone has become more genial to Anne to the point that they look to her for protection such as in "Snow Day" and she was rewarded by the town in "Anne of the Year". Sasha Anne had known Sasha for a long time and it is implied through their conversation that much of Anne's personality and philosophy stems from her influence. Anne was determined to look for her when they were separated. However, it quickly became apparent through her description of her that she was unknowingly being bossed around and manipulated by her. Upon being reunited, Anne began to see Sasha's flaws and was forced to fight her to defend her friends. Despite this, Anne still wanted to reach out to her and help her and was crushed when they were once again separated by their differing allegiances. Gallery Trivia *Anne is shown to be highly addicted to her phone, with Polly noting she never goes somewhere without her phone in "A Night at the Inn", and being more grateful to Wally for saving her phone than her life in "Wally and Anne". A brief comment of hers in "Taking Charge" suggests this addiction is due to her phone being the only link to her life back home. **On a related note, it is strongly implied that Anne is very responsible with the use of her phone, since she spent days in Amphibia with her phone still being at full battery until Hop Pop drained it all in the episode "Taking Charge". *She attends Saint James Middle School which seems to be a parochial school. *It is strongly implied in "Family Fishing Trip" that Anne likes to eat crab, as she said that the giant crab monster both scares her and makes her hungry, and later asked if anyone would like to go and kill the crab monsters, arguing that "that thing probably had a ton of meat" *Strangely enough, despite showing that she can get clean and has worn clean clothing and comb or slicked her hair on more than one occasion, her hair always seems to revert back to having leaves and sticks in it as if she has been dragged through the woods again. According to Matt Braly, this is done on purpose in order to reflect the fact that "Anne is out of her depth and a little bit disoriented Amphibia".Talking Amphibia On Disney Channel With Matt Braly – Exclusive *Anne was originally envisioned as being boring on earth before being reinvented by the crew. Her personality was loosely based on Pacifica Northwest from Gravity Falls and Matt Braly's grandmother when she was a little girl. *Her last name "Boonchuy" roughly translates to "one who encourages or performs good deeds". This fits her character as she attempts to help the people of Wartwood. *Anne has shown a number of interesting talents over the course of the series such as dancing, dunking, and sewing. It is implied that she learned some of these skills either through her family or her friends. *Some of Anne's quips such as her saving "Obvi", which is short for "Obviously", most likely came from Sasha, showing the influence that she has had on her. *In "Reunion", it is revealed that Anne hated frogs to the point that Sasha would make fun of her for it and try to gross her out. *According to Matt Braly, Anne reads manga, "saw anime", and watched The Lord of the Rings.Matt Braly, creador de Amphibia y Gravity Falls: “Siempre quise crear mi propia fantasía” (in Spanish) References External links *Anne Boonchuy at the Amphibia Wiki pt-br:Anne Boonchuy ru:Энни Бунчуай Category:Disney characters Category:Animated characters Category:TV Animation characters Category:Amphibia characters Category:Heroines Category:Teenagers Category:Protagonists Category:Females Category:Transformed characters Category:Characters Under Spells Category:Swordsmen Category:Birds Category:Students Category:Characters in video games Category:Dancers Category:Singing characters Category:Athletes Category:Asian characters